The nation's 4th and 8th graders once again posted underwhelming performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, with 2024 results showing little to no progress toward regaining pre-pandemic levels in math and reading.
Average scores in reading actually dropped from 2022 in the latest results for the assessment, known as the Nation's Report Card, released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics.
Reading scores in 2024 for each grade level fell 5 points from 2019 levels. For math, the average score dipped 3 points for 4th graders and 8 points for 8th graders between 2019 and 2024.
And just since 2022, average reading scores fell 2 points for both grades 4 and 8. The decline continues a downward trend that began in 2019, according to NCES.
NAEP reading scores continued to drop nationwide in 2024
“NAEP has reported declines in reading achievement consistently since 2019, and the continued declines since the pandemic suggest we’re facing complex challenges that cannot be fully explained by the impact of COVID-19,” said NCES Associate Commissioner Daniel McGrath in a Wednesday statement.
In math, however, 4th graders showed small signs of progress — their national average score rose by about 2 points since 2022. There was no notable change for 8th grade math scores between 2022 and 2024.
In a Wednesday statement, NCES Commissioner Peggy Carr said signs of learning loss recovery “are mostly math and largely driven by higher-performing students. Lower-performing students are struggling, especially in reading.”
NAEP math scores still below pre-pandemic levels
The worrying trends persisted at the state level, especially with reading scores.
Between 2019 and 2024, only one state — Louisiana — saw an increase in 4th grade reading scores, while 11 states showed no significant change and scores in 38 states decreased. For 8th grade, no states saw improvement in reading compared to 2019 — though 12 had no significant change and 38 showed declines.
In math, Alabama was the only state to see an increase for 4th grade between 2019 and 2024. At the same time, 4th grade math scores dropped for 21 states and 28 saw no significant change from 2019.
Meanwhile, for 8th grade, math scores did not rise in any states from 2019 to 2024. In fact, 49 saw a decrease while only Tennessee had no significant change.
Although Carr reiterated at a Tuesday press briefing that the “news is not good,” she acknowledged signs of hope in the results from Louisiana and Alabama.
Asked if curriculum reforms such as investments in the science of reading were working, Carr pointed to Louisiana’s success and said the state has “heavily” focused on the science of reading for several years. “I wouldn’t say that it’s not working,” she said.
There’s also a “strong relationship” between student absenteeism and NAEP performance, Carr said.
“We should care because students who are lower performers are more likely to be absent, and their scores are the lowest,” Carr said. “If students aren’t in school, they can’t learn, and that is what these data underscore.”
The NAEP results come just as the final spending deadline hit on Tuesday for the historic influx of federal relief funds meant to help school districts recover from COVID-19. With the total $190 billion in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds now in the rearview mirror for most districts, the NAEP results will raise questions about the success of those efforts.
While districts were required to spend at least 20% of the American Rescue Plan’s ESSER dollars to address lost learning time for students, the federal funds were also commonly used toward facility upgrades, hiring staff for additional academic and social support for students, or staff wellness activities.
House Education and Workforce Chair Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Michigan, shared his dismay over the NAEP results in a Wednesday statement.
“When we fail our children, we fail our nation’s future. Today’s NAEP scores continue the concerning trend of declining performance nationwide,” Walberg said. “This is clearly a reflection of the education bureaucracy continuing to focus on woke policies rather than helping students learn and grow.”
Moving forward, “urgent attention” is needed for the nation’s lowest-performing students, particularly those who scored at the 10th and 25th percentiles on the Nation's Report Card, said Lesley Muldoon, executive director of the National Assessment Governing Board, during Wednesday’s press briefing.
“The governing board sets a high bar for what we expect students to know and be able to do,” Muldoon said. “That bar signals now what it has always signaled, that high expectations matter.”
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